WHITE PIGEON (WKZO-AM/FM) — It’s not the fireworks anyone planned, but it looks like the huge fire at a material recycling plant near Mottville will still be burning on July 4 and perhaps beyond.
Fire crews have given up on trying to put out the 12-acre pile of wood that caught fire on Monday. Their strategy now is to contain it and let it burn itself out.
The winds have died down and, after a day and a half, M-103 was finally reopened to traffic late last night. It took fire fighters from two-dozen departments to contain it to that 12-acre pile, which has now been surrounded by fire breaks and sprinklers to keep it contained.
White Pigeon Asst. Fire Chief Tyler Royce says it’s a wood fire, so there are no toxic fumes, but it did send a firefighter toa hospital with a mild case of smoke inhalation Monday.
The biggest problem in fighting the blaze has been the fact that there are no hydrants in the are,a so all of the water has had to be trucked in.
The firm that operated the facility, GreenStream, was working on a fire suppression plan, but there was not one in place. Fire officials say the way the piles of material were stacked in large piles rather than lots of smaller piles, contributed to the rapid spread of the flames.
The company isn’t talking to the media.
